Last week, I discussed bad behavior that happens at companies and what the leader can do to address it.
For today, I promised I would give you some questions you can ask to connect better with your team.
For talking with someone you don’t know well, Vistage speaker Boaz Rauchwerger suggests these 5 questions:
BTW, Boaz always begins with: I’m just curious:
- Where are you from originally?
- How you lived here all your life? Or, what brought you here?
- Do you have a family?
- What do you do?
- What did you want to be when you were growing up?
If you are talking to someone you know well, and you specifically want to get feedback about things going on in the organization, you can use the questions Vistage Chairs suggest to their Members to get feedback:
- What should I (or the organization) start doing?
- What should we stop doing?
- What should we continue doing?
It is important to stay neutral as you listen. Question for clarity.
- Tell me more about that?
- Can you give me an example?
- How did that affect you?
If you know why something occurred that seems unfair, you can offer your perspective, as long as you are respectful and stay curious. Be careful to stay open and neutral. Whatever you say will be communicated with others. If you commit to getting back with information or an answer, be sure to do so at the time you committed to doing it. Be careful not to make the conversation defensive, ore to make it about you. Make it your intention to model the behavior you are seeking from your team.
photo courtesy of http://www.imaccanici.org/